TopNational Historic Site · 1903–1962Chinese Cemetery at Harling PointCrescent Rd. & Penzance St.Photo: Mike from Vancouver, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons file
Chinese Cemetery at Harling Point · Photo: Mike from Vancouver, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.03historic places on the registers
History of Oak Bay · Canada’s heritage registers
In Oak Bay, 59% of homes go back before 1961
Against 18% in the typical town, Oak Bay has 3.4 times the share. The registers put 3 historic places inside its boundary, 2 of them of the highest rank. The list takes in a heritage lighthouse. Chinese Cemetery at Harling Point, begun in 1903, is the oldest by its record.
Historic places
3
1.6 per 10,000 residents
Highest designations
2
National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings
Other federal designations
1
Recognized buildings, railway stations, lighthouses
Oldest building
1903
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
59%
typical town: 18%
In pictures
Heritage Oak Bay through 2 photographs
A single top-tier place in Oak Bay has a photo. There are photos here of 2 of Oak Bay’s designated places. The set opens with Chinese Cemetery at Harling Point and Trial Islands Lighthouse.
Photos from Wikimedia Commons, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the place’s page. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
The map
Where Oak Bay’s history is
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designationsOther federal designations
Dots open their places’ pages; hover first to read the name.
The 3, by tier
2 Highest designations1 Other federal designations
Most entries are federal, from Parks Canada’s Directory of Federal Heritage Designations; local listings outside Québec are known only through Wikidata items with an article.
Points from Wikidata (Parks Canada’s files carry none) and from Québec’s register, as mapped there. One place, placed by its register’s municipality, has no point and isn’t on the map.
Highest designations
The highest rank in Oak Bay: 2 places
Their dates run from 1903, with Chinese Cemetery at Harling Point, to 1912. National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. They were designated between 1994 and 2019. Each one opens its own page.
National Historic Site · 1912–1971Uplands
Other federal designations
Federal heritage in Oak Bay: one more place
Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings, heritage railway stations and lighthouses. Each one opens its own page.
FedHeritage Lighthouse · 1970Trial Islands LighthousePhoto: KenWalker [email protected] · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons file
Homes by age
59% of Oak Bay’s homes were built before 1961
Oak Bay built little from 2001 to 2015: 4.4% of its homes, where most towns have 15%. Few of Oak Bay’s homes date from 1981 to 2000: 9%, the norm 23%. Homes built from 2016 to 2021 are 3.3% of Oak Bay’s, about the typical 4.1%.
59%
Before 1961
24%
1961–80
9%
1981–2000
4.4%
2001–15
3.3%
2016–21
Oak BayTypical town
2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.
Towns its size
Oak Bay has the 4th most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 18,400 to 18,900 residents, by places on the registers.
Oak Bay3
Ahead of it: L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève, Deux-Montagnes and Port Hope. The typical town its size has 0. 9 of them have nothing on the registers.
Neighbours
Oak Bay and its neighbours
| Town | People | Places | Highest | Oldest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Bay | 18,626 | 3 | 2 | 1903 |
| Victoria | 103,888 | 80 | 23 | 1843 |
| Saanich | 126,011 | 2 | 2 | 1854 |
| Esquimalt | 19,512 | 42 | 2 | 1855 |
| New Songhees 1A | 2,052 | 0 | 0 | — |
| View Royal | 12,795 | 1 | 1 | 1853 |
| Colwood | 22,794 | 27 | 7 | 1859 |
In brief
Oak Bay in brief
The pre-1961 share of Oak Bay’s homes is 59%, against 18% in the typical town. The count is 3 historic places, 2 with the highest designation, with Chinese Cemetery at Harling Point first. Just 3 towns of its size, out of 16, have more historic places. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: the designations ran from 1994 to 2019.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- People and events. Persons of national historic significance come with no location; a town gets one only by birthplace (name and both life years agreeing) or by one of its own places that bears the name and whose record tells the story. Events, which can’t be tied, are left out.
- The tiers. Tiers follow the designation: national recognition and classement first, other federal designations next, provincial and local listings last.
- Map points. Parks Canada publishes no coordinates, so federal places are pinned where Wikidata puts them.
- Provincial and municipal lists. Provincial and municipal listings here come from Wikidata alone, since the provinces’ own registers can’t be reused; a listing needs an encyclopedia article to get a page.
- The federal register. Federal places come from Parks Canada’s directory, which counts National Historic Sites, federal heritage buildings, stations and lighthouses; their statements are the register’s own.
- The grade. There is no history grade: the page sets out the record and compares it with other towns.
- Protection. A National Historic Site designation recognises significance; it doesn’t by itself protect a building the federal government doesn’t own. Legal protection comes from provincial and municipal designations, whose own registers aren’t open data outside Québec.
Questions about Oak Bay’s history
How old are the homes in Oak Bay?
The 2021 Census dates 59% of its homes before 1961 (18% in the typical town).
Which places in Oak Bay have the highest designation?
Chinese Cemetery at Harling Point and Uplands.
What is the oldest building in Oak Bay?
Chinese Cemetery at Harling Point (National Historic Site): the first construction date on its record is 1903.
Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada (Parks Canada).
Sources: Parks Canada, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations · Canadian Register of Historic Places (federal extract) · Wikidata (CC0) for map points, other names and articles · Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (homes by period of construction). Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).